Week 10: Cohabitation

As I sit here writing this post (hint: Thursday night) Dan is in the kitchen making us NY Strip Steak, sauteed veggies and we're both sipping wine from a new bottle we sampled today at Trader Joe's. Life is good Great!

This was a big week for both of us so let's focus on only the happy moments!

This week Dan celebrated his five year anniversary with the company of his dreams. When he was congratulated by a round of applause from his peers, he was then presented with a peer-voted Employee of the Quarter award for all of his hard work and passion for his work.

It'll be two more years until I get my very own plaque:

We grabbed coffee from our local coffee shop THREE mornings this week which always puts a little pep in our step! Normally when we make it into work we have a couple minutes to spare and those are spent resting on each other's shoulders to have a little more 'us time' before we are sentenced to 8-10 hours of non-stop work. The coffee puts us in the parking lot a little closer to go-time and it just plain tastes good!

Wednesday night we had a special visitor at the house! Mom was going out at night to meet with a long lost friend and we had the privilege of keeping an eye on the sweetest little girl. Bella has the sweetest temperament, the gentlest eyes and the softest coat of hair! She was a sleepyhead for most of the night as was I and fell asleep on my feet while we tried our hardest to stay awake for mom to come in after curfew ;)

-Pause-

This is dinner and drinks tonight, don't be jealous!

Weekend plans? No way!

Dan plans to run with me Saturday morning before getting 18 holes of golf in. I plan to run as far as my legs will take me and dream as far as my mind will let me travel. Maybe a pedicure too - what are you guys up to?

Oh right, St. Patty's Day! I hope you're wearing green! I can see us grabbing a pint of Guinness to celebrate but other than that I'm laying low. I think it's important to call out that last year I spent St. Patty's morning DIY-ing with Brooke and Erica where we made these pinterest gems: Bracelets & Shoes

Sorry to end this short, but my man's calling me to dance with him in our living room to some new J.T.- have a great weekend, everyone!

Throwback Thursday: Let's Adapt

How well do you adapt to change?

Do you get frazzled when the weather is not what they predicted, fussy when a meeting gets moved - or out of sorts when the outfit you'd planned to wear is wrinkly?

I think back to some of the times in my life where I've been dealt a bad hand and thought "why me". The path and the plan were laid carefully one way on a yellow-brick road in my mind, but the direction I was steered was the gloomy, dark and spooky road... and I've come out it shining every time because I adapted.

Take softball - many of you may not know that I grew up playing softball and earned my way through college with a scholarship for being a pitcher. In the 'glory days', pitching was my life and it was my identity. Without it I don't know what my life would look like today and I'm so thankful for every opportunity it provided me with. Pitching was my livelihood - but would you have ever guessed that when I started playing at the tender age of 5 all I wanted to do was be the catcher? I was strong and I had a great understanding of the game from watching my brother play so it was a natural fit.

When I turned 8, I left my eye appointment with my first pair of glasses and was quickly told by my coaches that I couldn't be a catcher anymore. As much as the mask comes on and off of a catcher's face, they didn't want that liability and therefore they told me to pick something else out.  I huffed and puffed, but decided that I wanted to be a pitcher because if I couldn't be catcher I'd be the next most important player on the field. From adversity I found my calling, a passion and an outlet to earn me three college degrees - I'd say that's success.

This is the way I'm seeing my current career path - I started a job three months ago where I was excited to be mentored and taken in under the wings of my teammates to develop my skills. Two months later and still naive to the reality of my decision I found myself out in the rain having to discover solutions on my own, pave my own path and guide others down a road where I'm not sure what lies beyond. This is growing up, right? I have confidence in myself to overcome because I've proven time and time again that I can shovel manure and come out smelling like a rose.

I'm a planner and I like to have a vision for the future, but sometimes life can throw you a curve and you need to be open to letting the universe point you down the path of self-discovery instead of dwelling over circumstances that are out of your power. You are better than you give yourself credit for.

So am I.

Today's Throwback Thursday is brought to you by showing up, gearing up and being ready to take the curve-ball.

Sometimes Better is Best

Is Tuesday the new nap day around here?

The last two weeks Dan and I have arrived home, dropped our bags on the counter and followed each other to the place I think we both like the best in our home - the bed! No fuss, just sleep - and we find ourselves woken by the bustle of traffic leaving the neighborhood in each other's arms and wishing we could just sleep through to the morning.

I remember a point in my life where that was an option - a time after college when I no longer had homework due, a time before I brought my work home with me, a time before blogging (no offense!) and a less stressed version of me. That Jessi was motivated by success and development, but she also knew that having the perfect balance of work and life was where she could find and create happiness. The Jessi today is over the moon in her personal life, but feels like the world rests on her shoulders all other hours of the day.

Let me share a little bit about me - I take three steps backwards by being the worst critic of my own handiwork. I stress and plot over work that needs to be done to make sure that I've thought of everything rather than jumping in and being okay with enlisting others who have knowledge to share. I'll over-work myself while striving for perfection when often the end product is viewed as only a fraction of the importance I placed on it. Was working late worth missing my run? Was it worth staying up late, or responding to an email over the weekend? Probably not - but every time I do hit a home run I make people happy, I prove my value and I get an ego boost that just can't be expressed in words.

When my expectations exceed reality of what I can do while remaining happy, that's a sign for me to take a deep breath and do the best I can with the resources that are in front of me. Time is a resource, energy is a resource and even lately patience has become a resource. Time is non-renewable and patience wears thin over time.

My point is that sometimes we strive to be the best; we try to have the greatest photos, the best workouts, the prettiest clothes, the most exciting blog content, the fastest response, the best weekend, the biggest story and the happiest relationships.

Let's all stop trying to be the best and instead - be better.

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Trying to be the best can create insecurity within ourselves that immediately makes us vulnerable and sets us up for failure. With my March Goal of finding the strength to say "no" when it's necessary has allowed me to see a different side of myself that understands that I can't do it all and won't be able to sustain a healthy emotional state by signing up for it all.

Dan and I had a heart to heart this weekend about how we can help one another around the house to alleviate stress from our time together. We've already resolved to partner up on laundry, rely on the food we made over the weekend for dinner and he's even offered to help with blog photography & staging to make it a shared process (especially since I talk about him so often on here)!

Whatever you do, do it better. Stop worrying about being perfect and especially don't place your worth in the same bucket as others' opinions of you.